The Call of the Dragon
by MoonRose91
Summary: It is time. -Part 3 of The Mage Tower Series-
1. Box Collection Day

Warlic let out a low sigh.

The Black Box had been claimed by an up and coming Mage.

He let out a low sigh and leaned back. Between Nythera, the danger Lymcrest was in, and Xan, he wasn't sure he was going to get through this intact.

There was an explosion on the other side of the Tower and he let out a low sigh, carefully covering his eyes.

Ah, yes, and then there was Cysero.

Cysero who was probably going to drive him to an early grave.

He let out a low sigh and looked up as Lady Celestia appeared before him. "Well, she's off. She's going to find the box that the Sneevil stole while she was arguing with the leader of the Darkwolf Bandits. They were having a really good verbal smack down," she stated.

Warlic merely nodded and got a pot of tea ready, wincing a bit as more explosions echoed throughout the Tower. "I see Cysero is back," she stated.

"For now. He said he needed to do some work in a stable environment," he stated and Lady Celestia nodded with a tiny smile.

"Of course," she stated and Warlic glared slightly at her before he focused on making sure the tea was perfect.

"Cysero never has a problem saying what is on his mind, Lady Celestia. If he says he is here to work in a stable environment, then that is what he's here to do," Warlic stated, sighing as he caught a potion bottle from falling and shattering as the next explosion caused the Tower to shake.

He set it on a different shelf and muttered something unsavory about the process of invention. He sighed softly and glanced at Lady Celestia. "What is it?" he questioned.

"She'll be coming to see you, the Mage," she stated.

"Why?" he asked.

"Sneevil's just want the boxes," Celestia stated mysteriously and Warlic wondered how much trouble he would get in if he got snarky with Celestia.

However, he hadn't been snarky for _years_ and he pinched the bridge of his nose. "She's going to lose the egg, isn't she?" he asked.

Lady Celestia only smiled and he resisted the urge to sigh again.

Of _course_ their Hero lost the egg.

"It gets grabbed by a Voltragon doesn't it?" he asked.

Lady Celestia laughed and he just nodded.

Sometimes the fact that she could see into the future was very, _very_ irritating.


	2. Legends Come to Life

Cysero had, once again, left for his wanderings, leaving Warlic to the peace and quiet of the Tower.

Nythera had also gone off, frustrated over the fact he was 'too slow'. She had hopes another would assist in her teachings, or maybe she hoped that she could learn more on her own, but Warlic had only had her a short time, in comparison. An apprentice that was not really apprentice, her frustration and short-temper making it next to impossible for him to call her that.

"Hello?" a voice called, young and female, and he stood up.

He walked toward the entrance and carefully pulled the tent flap back and stepped out, earning a sharp squeak of surprise from the black with white trim robed mage. She had a red hair that was a deeper red then Aria's and her brown eyes were wide with surprise.

A young adventurer and his eyes fell to the pack she was carrying protectively in her arms. "Are you Warlic?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered.

The young mage obviously seemed relieved. "Valencia said you could help me. You see, I…I lost the Black Dragon Box, so I have been trying to gather it. When I found it, the Sneevil had dumped the egg in the Dumpsite. From there, an Ultra-Vultragon stole the egg, because I was…I was rather foolish and didn't just grab the egg and run. And…well…I fought the Ultra-Vultragon and now I have a bunch of eggs and I don't know which one is the dragon egg. Valencia said you could help," she explained, arms tightening slightly around the bag.

Warlic knew that every bag adventurers got were safe for anything to go in there, from weapons to fragile bobbles and, unless she reached in to grab something, they would remain safe.

Yet she was clinging to that bag, her staff strapped to her back, and he gave her a small smile. "I think I can. Come inside while I try to see if there is something I have that will be of use," Warlic answered, and paused, before he glanced back at her.

"What's your name?" he questioned, despite the fact he now knew it was Asivia.

Twilly had come by earlier, talking about her adventures, but Warlic knew there was a time to be his all-powerful self and a time to keep it quiet.

This was a time to keep it quiet.

She immediately flushed in embarrassment, which clashed with her hair. "Sorry. It is Asivia," she responded.

He nodded and walked inside, waving her to follow.

Maybe it wasn't entirely her fault that this was happening. She seemed awfully young and he subtly gazed into his crystal.

He felt as if his heart would stop.

She wasn't even a fully trained Mage!

He cleared out his crystal orb again and turned to face her. "This isn't a tent, is it?" she asked.

Warlic shook his head. "No. The tent is merely a Portal to my Mage Tower. We thought it was worth the extra cost," he answered.

"We?" she questioned, still clutching to her bag.

"My roommate, Cysero, and I. He's a good roommate, as roommates go, mostly because he is rarely here," Warlic answered.

He didn't know why the words tasted a bit like ash on his tongue.

"Oh…I met him. He was…interesting," Asivia answered.

Warlic nodded. "That is one way to put it. I have some research I was doing on the two Boxes. I need to go consult it, but…it is difficult and, from what I have gotten so far, it seems the Black Dragon Box might be the one to hold the dragon that will destroy all of Lore. I'll need to double check, but in the meantime make yourself at home. Feel free to make yourself a snack and watch the eggs carefully," Warlic explained and headed to the back.

He headed to one of his rooms and looked around.

Now, where was that research he had been doing?

He began to search, the sounds of Asivia walking around reaching him.

After a time, he finally found what he was looking for. He found his translations and let out a soft sigh.

It didn't say which was which. However…

He tapped his fingers on his desk. The Black Dragon Box egg was more likely to be destructive over the White Dragon Box egg.

Who was around to correct him if he told her the Black Dragon Box egg was to _save_ all of Lore?

He turned and walked out. "Good news, you have the egg that is going to _save_ all of Lore," he stated and noticed she was holding one of the eggs in her hands.

"Oh, good. I was contemplating making myself an egg snack," she responded softly, holding the egg securely in her hands.

Warlic watched her, wondering what was wrong.

"Are the monsters I fight _really_ monsters? The Ultra-Vultragon was just protecting her nest. She didn't do anything wrong, but I killed her. What…what if the others are like that too? Can I really call myself a 'hero' then?" she questioned.

Warlic remembered feeling the same way, so many years ago.

Well, really, only after he stopped being a brat.

By Lore, he was horrible back then.

"Most of the time, the monsters you face are putting people in danger and it is a point of 'you or them' and, if you die, who will protect those that needed protecting? In the Elementals case, they are sent back to the Elemental Plane and reside there. However, in some cases, there are situations like the one with the Ultra-Vultragon, where you have no choice. She never would have let you take her eggs, and you couldn't leave the dragon egg there. She would have smashed it when it didn't hatch, or she would have killed it when it _did_ hatch and it was a baby dragon, not one of her chicks," he answered gently and she nodded a bit.

"What will happen to them after we discover which is the dragon egg?" she asked.

Warlic considered the options before he answered her. "I know someone who will take them. They've always wanted Vultragons to train," he answered and Asivia relaxed.

"Okay. Is there a spell we can use to reveal the Dragon Egg?" she questioned.

"No. The illusion is too powerful. However, there is a being I can summon who eats Dragon Eggs. Unfortunately, _The Ancient Tome of Summoning_is high in my tower, beyond a barrier that I cannot pass," he responded.

"Like a shield that is custom made to repel you?" she questioned.

"Not…exactly. The tome is on Cysero's side of the Tower. I was having some issues with his dirty laundry and insane experiments, so we painted a yellow line down the center of the tower, dividing his half from mine," he explained.

Asivia stared at him, as if she was trying to put together the idea of Warlic, the Blue Mage, with such an act. "Isn't that a bit…extreme?" she questioned.

He could almost hear the 'immature' there instead of 'etreme'.

"Let's see how you feel after having to fight your way past his experiments and animated laundry," Warlic responded and Asivia blinked at him in surprise.

"Animated…laundry?" she questioned.

Warlic merely smiled and that seemed to make her more nervous then before.


	3. The Ingredients of Doom

Asivia stumbled back over the line, leaning on the wall, clutching the ancient tome tightly to her chest, and breathing hard. "That…that was really scary. Let's never do that again. Why does he create these things? Bad enough I accept weapons from him, and owe him five gold, but seriously, why does he create these things?" she muttered softly and Warlic quirked his eyebrow up.

"You know Cysero from outside of his weaponsmithing?" he questioned and Asivia let out a yelp of surprise, trying to leap back, only to smack her head against the stone wall.

She groaned and held the back of her head, though she never dropped the tome.

"Yes. Here," she answered, holding it out for him and Warlic thanked her before taking it, immediately opening it.

Asivia continued to lean against the wall, holding her head, though she started her Ice Strike spell to put some cold against it. "You'll freeze your hair that way," Warlic muttered.

"Yes, well, I smacked my head into a stone wall. This is all I have," she responded sharply before she focused on the floor.

"Touché. When you are feeling a bit better, come back downstairs. We need to discuss what we need to collect to make this summoning successful," he stated and walked away, his nose already in the tome.

Asivia contemplated making a snarky comment on his back before she took a deep breathe.

Who was the all-powerful wizard/mage/whatever in this situation?

Not her.

And with that, she was calm again and headed off after him, carefully reabsorbing the spell, wincing when it gave her a few 'burns' on her palm. She frowned at that and sighed, curling her fingers slightly, wincing at the pull, before she caught up with him, keeping her staff to the uninjured hand.

"What do you need?" she asked.

"Fire Yarn, to start with. It is in the Fiery Heart of Mt. Shining Star north of here…somewhere," Warlic answered and Asivia raised an eyebrow before shrugging and heading out.

She needed to do some shopping for a new water staff first.

Warlic managed to hide a smirk as Asivia just sat on the circular healing pad. Smoke was coming off her robes and she shook them out, the healing pad working on more than just depleted mana and ragged health. "I am so going to go stay at Serenity's after this. I need real sleep, not just running off of potions," she muttered quietly and Warlic barely stopped himself from nodding in agreement.

He felt he wasn't meant to hear that.

With her comment, however unwished to be heard it was supposed to be, he began to wonder if she had just jumped head first into finding that egg, scared that due to her foolishness it had been harmed.

Wanting to fix what she had harmed.

He needed to pour over those old texts some more, before he tried to discover if Asivia would become the Savior of Lore or its Destroyer.

He glanced back down at the tired Asivia (she would be feeling the side-effects of not sleeping soon enough) and decided that those thoughts were for later.

The sooner they collected the ingredients, the faster they could all rest.

"I need Indestructible Litter next. It can be found Earth Cave in the east…after defeating the guardian there," he stated and Asivia stared at him before carefully, slowly, hauling herself up.

She shook out her robes one final time and rolled her head.

"Fun. Luckily I have a wind staff or this would be not so fun," she stated and began to head east.

"It is the first path that you see on your left once you enter the forest. The rune stones mean you have gone too far," Warlic stated and she paused before she nodded, continuing out.

She was out of sight, but she never shifted her staff. He wondered if she just wanted to keep her weapons a secret before going back to the tome.

A bag of salmon?

Where was…

The Water Elements in the area owed him a favor.

They could collect it for him and Asivia could collect it. It would allow him to see how she did when having to talk to an Elemental. If he explained it to them, he was sure they would help.

Asivia had potential.

"Warlic!" Nythera shouted and he sighed.

Of course, his Dragon student did as well, but her confrontational manner grated.

She had all the time in the world. She would have more than any expected her to have.

She would have just as much, if not more, then what he had.

"Nythera, I'm glad to see you have returned," Warlic stated and Nythera sniffed.

"Yeah, well, I couldn't find anyone to help me unlock my powers," she returned.

Warlic merely smiled, already getting a slight feeling of foreboding in his mind.

"These things take time Nythera," he responded calmly and looked back at the tome.

Wind-nip.

Hmm.

Oh, yes, a store of it grew outside of the Wind caves that were the other way of the Fiery Heart.

Easy.

"Have some tea, Warlic," Nythera offered and he glanced at his apprentice.

It seemed she had taken up the mantel again.

"Thank you Nythera," he responded and gently took the cup from her, drinking it without a thought.

He missed her wicked smile.

Asivia was streaked with mud and dirt when she returned, leaning heavily on her staff. She carefully dropped a bag at his feet and smiled. "The whatsitcalled rubble," she stated and immediately headed to the pad.

He noted that her staff was different from when she had left. It was brown, with a star in a circle at the top (the star was straight up and down, not tilted in any way) with a red dragon 'flying' up the side, the long tail curling around it.

It reminded him that she was still young, power level wise, rather sharply.

There were better wind staves then that at higher levels, though one often had to search for them.

"Once you're ready, I need you to go find some salmon. It is at the waterfall that way," Warlic stated and Asivia nodded tiredly before she noticed Nythera.

Another squeak sound of surprise came, along with the sound of someone hitting the ground.

"Who are you?" Nythera demanded.  
"Asivia," she answered and Warlic shot Nythera a warning look, which she ignored.

"I'm Nythera. That means 'superior' in Draconic. And before you ask anything stupid, yes I am half-Dragon," Nythera introduced.

"Nythera," Warlic warned softly and his apprentice sniffed a bit before turning and heading into her 'tent', which connected to her home that she shared with her mother and father.

"Well, she's interesting," Asivia stated as she stood, the last of the dirt falling away from her hair as she finished healing.

"Yes she is," he responded as Asivia went off to go track down the salmon he had the Water Elementals track down for him.

"Why did Water Elementals have a bag of salmon?" Asivia questioned as she held it in her hand.

Warlic smiled a bit and answered, "Oh, I had asked them collect it, but I am making sure that the summoning is not going to go wrong. Thank you for collecting it for me."

Asivia blinked a bit and just handed it over.

"Is there anything else I need to gather?" she questioned.

"One more thing. Wind-nip. You can find it growing outside the Wind Cave. Opposite way of the Fiery Heart," Warlic explained.

Asivia nodded and headed off, uncomplaining of how he was making her do all the work in this case.

It was mostly a test. He glanced over at where Nythera's tent was set up and noted that the flap was moving more than it should, as if someone had suddenly dropped it to hide from sight.

Well, maybe she would learn or she would turn Asivia to her way of thought.

Warlic internally winced.

He hoped it was that first option.

"What, exactly are we, and by we I mean you, summoning?" Asivia asked.

Apparently having to run around a part of Lore collecting the needed ingredients rid her of her shyness.

That was good.  
Warlic didn't think he could take that for much longer.

"A great and dangerous creature to identify the dragon egg," Warlic answered.

"You _could_ just release my magic and have me do it," Nythera piped up and Asivia shook her head.

"I ran around what feels like half of Lore, battled various monsters, and hauled it all back running off of potions. We are using the things. I don't know how we are going to use the things, but we are," she responded, earning a frown from the half-Dragon.

Warlic merely smiled faintly at the pair and nodded. "I have it almost fully set up. If you would please Asivia. You can come as well, if you wish, Nythera," Warlic stated, heading inside.

The black robed mage followed, but Nythera merely sniffed and turned away.

"She could have learned something about summoning ancient creatures," he stated and Asivia merely shrugged.

"Make yourself at home while I finish up," Warlic stated and headed to the room he was using for the summoning.

He hoped she had a water staff on her, otherwise this would be a _very_ difficult battle.


	4. The Kitten of Doom

Asivia stood in the center of the circle, holding her staff securely in her hands, her pack left outside of the circle, the eggs settled in a half circle before her. "Remember, this is an extremely dangerous creature of the darkness! It feasts on dragon eggs and if you do not step in to banish it back to its plane of existence, it will devour your dragon egg," Warlic warned.

Asivia merely nodded at the warning, gripping her staff tighter. Warlic let out a controlled breath and he raised his hand. Blue lightning crackle and the portal of darkness spun, wrenching the creature who would sniff out the dragon egg from its plane and dropping it before Asivia.

"Mew?" it squeaked out and Asivia grinned.

"Awww! It's so _cute_!" she squealed.

"Asivia, this is just the appearance the Doomkitten…" Warlic began only to get cut off by the gushing Asivia.

"DOOMKITTEN? I just want to hug it!" she squealed out.

He sighed.

"Just…let it pick the egg," he stated and resisted the urge to hide his eyes.

He couldn't interfere, and he truly hoped she snapped out of it when it went to devour the egg.

It sniffed along until it came to the third egg, where it growled. Warlic didn't have time to say a thing when Asivia suddenly blasted it, her robes flaring out from the sudden expenditure of power. She spun her staff around and stood in front of the egg. "Over my dead body," she hissed.

The Doomkitten growled and its eyes glowed before it pulled from its realm to attack Asivia.

Her return was just as swift and violent.

Warlic watched, wondering if she would burn herself out going against the Doomkitten, until she sent it flying back into its realm. She stood blinking and then turned to where the egg was, the illusion flickering slightly. She immediately knelt down and carefully lifted the egg into her arms. She turned slightly and smiled at Warlic.

"Thank you," she responded.

"It was no problem. If Twilly was not waiting eagerly for your return, I would ask to study your egg for a while longer. However, it is probably best for you to return to Falconreach," Warlic stated.

Asivia nodded and immediately left, barely remembering to grab her pack as she went.

Warlic watched her go and turned to Nythera. "Nythera, how are your studies going?" he asked, ignoring the sour look she shot him.

Asivia would be fine, he was sure.


End file.
